What is employee onboarding?

Growing your business and hiring new employees is an exciting time and can provide many short and long term benefits, including becoming even more profitable. As you hire new employees, how do you currently ensure they experience a smooth transition into your business? 

Employee onboarding is the process of integrating new employees into your business. The onboarding process is not a one-day event, or even a one-week process, it can span several months, or take a year or longer depending on your business and the requirements of the role. Employee onboarding can include the initial orientation, and then expands to provide training on culture and values, job role expectations, how the position fits into the overall business and guidance on the tools and equipment available to help them complete their job to the best of their ability.

Why is onboarding important?

Employee onboarding is important as it helps new employees settle into their new workplace more comfortably, enhance their productivity and increase the likelihood they will become a loyal, long-term employee. When employee onboarding is not implemented successfully, or at all, there is an increased risk of turnover which can become an expensive cost to a business. Developing an onboarding process provides your business with a competitive advantage and helps to position your business as an attractive place to work when people are looking for a new employment opportunity.

What is the purpose of onboarding?

The purpose of onboarding is to help new employees feel comfortable in their new role and the work environment, so that they become part of the team more quickly, feel happy and satisfied in their role and become more productive in a shorter timeframe.

How does an onboarding plan help new team members engage in the company?

Setting up an onboarding plan helps new team members to engage in the company as it provides a streamlined process that helps them to become acclimatised to the culture and values of the company, get to know their work colleagues and provide a formalised training plan.

What’s the difference between onboarding and training?

Onboarding and training are both essential elements that need to be implemented when a new employee is hired in your business. Training for an employee focuses more on the job function and how to complete tasks that are required for the role. In comparison, employee onboarding takes a different approach with the aim to help your new employee feel comfortable in their role, understand the culture and values of the company, get to know their work colleagues and how they fit into the overall business and its goals. An effective onboarding process helps a new employee to get acclimated with the office environment and ‘fit in’ more quickly than if there was no formal onboarding process.

The best ways to onboard new employees

There are a number of effective ways to onboard a new employee into a company or organisation. The best ways to onboard new employees include covering the following areas:

• Company culture and values
• Compliance and safety training
• Processes and procedures for company-wide tasks
• Setting up technology, software and other tools
• Team building and communication
• Technical training for tasks specific to the hired role

How to train new employees effectively

As part of the onboarding process, it is important to ensure you have an effective training plan set up that covers all of the main tasks and responsibilities that are required as part of the new employee’s role. A new employee training plan should include:

• One-on-one training for critical tasks
• Video training or demonstration of common tasks
• Initial set-up of software and hardware
• Advice on where to find training manuals and help if required
• Clearly outlined procedures and processes 
• A recurring (eg. monthly/quarterly) check-in with a manager/supervisor

By setting up a training plan that is specific to a particular job role, it provides a supportive and effective way to build on an employee’s overall onboarding into the business or organisation.

The importance of having a process-driven onboarding plan

Using a process-driven onboarding plan can significantly improve the integration of a new employee into your business. Your newly hired employee will feel like they are part of the team more quickly, know exactly where to go to find out information that will help them in their role, and are then more likely to become a long-term, loyal employee.

If you need assistance in setting up an effective and efficient onboarding plan for new employees as they join your team, then it’s time to book a complimentary call with the Your Business Momentum consultants, who can guide and support you through the process.